The Club held it’s Studebaker Annual Concours on the weekend of 3rd – 4th September, 2011.
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To start the weekend off, dinner was held on the Saturday night at the Veteran Car Club Rooms, Carindale. The Concours dinner was well attended and gave everyone a chance to catch up before the Concours, Display & Swap Meet on the Sunday.
The Concours was also held at the Veteran’s Car Club Rooms & started at 9.00am. Total number of Studebakers on display was 34, a substantial effort from all our members and visitors. Studebaker Club members came from N.S.W. and New Zealand for the Concours weekend. Many thanks for making the trip, always great to see other National & International Club Members. A barbecue lunch was organised by the Club. A huge thankyou goes to Cousin Gordon (Zig) for being the Chef and also to the girls in the kitchen for the preparation, especially cutting up all those onions! The barbecue was a relaxing and tasty lunch for all Club Members & family.
The Studebaker Merchandise had a steady flow of customers all day, the new Studebaker pens with a floating Studebaker on the side were very popular and sold out quickly. A wide selection of Studebaker parts were also available for members to purchase.
At 2.00pm Club President Dick Adsett presented Trophies to the winners and thanked everyone for coming along as well as thanking all the volunteers who helped with the day.
The Winners were:
1st – Greg Devantier – 1964 Cruiser
2nd – Steve Leyden – 1963 Champ Pickup
3rd – Clive Summer – 1955 President Hardtop
4th – George Udovicich – 1961 Lark Convertible
5th – Len Bajenoff – 1953 Commander Starliner
6th – Steve Leyden – 1961 Lark Hardtop
7th – Dave Lucas – 1952 Commander Starlight Coupe
8th – Chris Skinner – 1964 Daytona Hardtop
9th – Pauline Oldman – 1960 Hawk Coupe
10th – Dave Allen – 1964 Cruiser
Longest Distance Travelled Trophy – Tony McKinnon from New Zealand.
Longest Distance Driven Tropy – Steve Leyden from Sydney. People’s Choice Trophy – Steve Leyden for his 1961 Lark. Raffle was won by Lachlan who was contacted by phone.
One of the most interesting vehicles on display at the Concours was a 1961 Lark Hardtop. This car was orginally owned by Kimball Thomson from New Zealand who would always come across the Tasman for our Concours. Steve Leyden is now the proud owner of the Lark which was originally sold new to the Amercian Consulate in Brisbane. Des Skinner purchased and restored the car in 1976. In 2005 Kimball purchased the Lark and it’s home was now Wellington, New Zealand. Steve has been attending the Queensland Concours for the past 7 years and has entered 3 different Studebakers during this time. When New Zealand had their Concours & National Meets, Steve would always drive the 61 Lark Hardtop as Kimball owned many Studebakers & always needed drivers for his wonderful collection of vehicles.
The 1961 Lark Hardtop was manufactured with RHD in South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A. & was shipped to Australia to start it’s life.
Specifications:
259 c.i. v8 (4272cc)
4 Bbl Carburettor
195 hp (105kw)
Top Speed 112 mph (180kmh)
Air Conditioned
Power Steering
Around 65,00 Larks were built in 1961 of which less than 3,000 were hardtops. Approximately 100 hardtops were built in RHD.
The weekend is always a time for all of us to swap Studebaker tales with old Studebaker friends and enjoy our Studebakers.
To see more Photos, please follow link to the Gallery